


you're my everything.

by starrshard



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Fluff, Human/Vampire Relationship, Vampire Hunters, Vampires, its just super fluffy, masuki + rei centric, masurei supremacy, vampire hunter x vampire!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27238645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrshard/pseuds/starrshard
Summary: “Who are you..?” she asked, her voice barely audible. “No, scratch that… what are you?”“...that’s subjective.” Rei turned fully around so that she could properly face Masuki. “I’ve been called many things. But, I suppose there’s one name in particular you would know me by.”Her words were soft; emotionless. Sighing, Rei forced her lips to curl and part, wearing a joyless smile that revealed her teeth- no, herfangs,sharp and pointed and far too familiar to Masuki.“A vampire.”
Relationships: Satou Masuki/Wakana Rei
Kudos: 28





	you're my everything.

**Author's Note:**

> aka vampire rei and vampire hunter masuki. what will the sapphics do
> 
> for ary_melu / mela_uwu !! i did my best and i had fun writing this qwq i hope you'll like it too!
> 
> i'm sorry this lowkey turned into like a wholeass short story rather than a writing prompt hgjhdfjh rip the intro is kinda long but i had to set stuff up 

_『 In a mysterious land, with mysterious creatures and even more mysterious people, there once was a little town they called Tsukichi Village._

_Tsukichi Village was a relatively peaceful place. The people were kind to their neighbors, and the children could often be seen running in the streets. At a glance, you’d think the place to be the perfect sanctuary, really._

_And yet, just below the surface, you would unveil something most troubling… 』_

  
  
  


If Masuki Satou had to pinpoint the catalyst of what would completely flip her life over on its face, it would be the morning Eve had to be subjugated.

“Masuki-san! Sensei!”

Said girl turned around and away from her book-stacked desk, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She almost irritably found her black cloak tangling around her leg for the fifth time that morning. That wasn’t what her attention was fixated on, though. Maya had just rushed into her office, a look of utmost horror plastered across her face, pale as a ghost.

The former opened her mouth to ask what was wrong before the brunette cut her off. “I-It’s Eve-chan! I think she’s been bitten!”

Perhaps it would be unfortunate to say that Masuki had been expecting this. That didn’t stop the jolt of dread from spreading through her every limb, though, lightning pacing through her nerves and startling her cowardly heart into action. No time for thinking, she chided herself.

“Run ahead. I’ll follow.” Swiftly jumping to her feet, she grabbed the set of daggers from the tabletop and tucked them into her belt. Following Maya as she ran- stumbled- out the door and into the stone streets under a pristine, blue sky, Masuki immediately took note of the fact that the town was eerily silent, not a soul to be seen. _So Maya already alerted the Viceroy and set off the alarm. That’s one less thing to worry about, I guess._

Chasing her apprentice down to the outskirts of town, nearing the surrounding woods, Masuki spotted the figure of a certain white-haired village girl crouched in the grass. “Th-There!” Maya cried a few seconds too late, her voice hastily softened. Masuki was silent, though, her gaze emotionlessly fixated upon Eve as she straightened up.

The sight of her was terrible. Her face was splattered with blood, dark red and still dripping down her cheeks and onto her brown sundress; her pupils were also completely blown, like orbs of midnight black, giving her the appearance of not having irises at all. Her delightful grin, revealing overly-sharpened canines and red-smeared teeth, only added to the image.

_A vampire._

And, of course, in a world where vampires exist, vampire hunters must as well.

Masuki immediately rushed forward, and the still-stunned Maya was left in the dust. As her cloak whipped behind her, Masuki’s blades were already in hand as she leaped towards Eve, aiming to strike for her collarbone; golden eyes landed upon a subtle pair of puncture wounds, smudged with drying, crimson blood, on her exposed shoulder.

Silver glinted in the sun as Eve dodged, staggering to the left; despite the sugar rush-like effect from the vampire’s bite, her physical capabilities weren’t exactly buffed. Masuki whirled around to intercept the lunging girl, grabbing her one arm and easily throwing her to the ground.

 _The moment you feel empathy is the moment you die._ That had been what her father had once told her, when she was an apprentice herself. It was the rule she lived by, fought by, and intended to die by.

And yet, gazing over Eve’s struggling body, Masuki couldn’t help but see, in the back of her mind, the girl with flowers braided in her hair, the girl who danced like a bluebird and liked to give daisies to the children.

And so, as she always did, a scrap of her died as she uttered a sigh.

“Sorry. This’ll hurt.” In a flash swifter than water, her dagger flew down, slashing across the bite wound. The blue-eyed girl screamed; a dreadful sound, as if her organs were being torn out and whipped.

Masuki had heard that scream, that terrible wail, enough times to ignore it. She focused instead on tightly pinning the girl prone to the blood-splattered earth until she suddenly stopped crying and grew limp under her knee.

Still holding her knives, Masuki got up, shook herself off, and silently looked around. There was some sort of rodent lying in the grass, messily mutilated and gruesome to the core. “Hm. Must’ve been why her face was all bloody.” The innards of a rat were terribly similar to a human’s, she noted. Best not to think about that particular observation (although she knew she’d always remember it).

Meanwhile, Maya was staggering over, tripping over her own feet in anxiety as she halted over Eve’s limp form. “She’s… gonna be okay, right?” Her eyes were alight with worry for her friend, and Masuki sighed again as she turned to her.

“Yes, of course she’ll be okay. She must’ve been bitten in the night time, so it’s soon enough for the venom to be burnt. And didn’t you watch me do this not a week ago, too, with Sayo?”

“W-Well, yeah…” Crouching down, Maya pulled a cloth out of her pocket and pressed it against the wound, wincing as blood seeped through and met her fingers. She must’ve forgotten her gloves again, Masuki mused. “Come on, let’s just get her back to the village. Rokka-chan can take care of her.”

Maya wound up carrying Eve’s unconscious figure back to the town square, where Rokka and Asuka were waiting. Standing behind them, even more unexpectedly, were Viceroy Yukina of Tsukichi and her advisors. Ignoring them, though, the two hunters made a beeline for the doctors.

“Please take care of her!” Maya pleaded to Rokka after she’d placed Eve onto the stretcher between her and her friend.

“...I’ll do my best.” She seemed a little pale at the sight of the wound, which was swiftly bleeding through the cloth-- a good thing, Masuki figured, since it would help force out all traces of vampire venom that were transmitted by the bite. Even Rokka seemed a little used to the sight though, moreso than even just a few months ago.

Watching her scurry away with Asuka and the girl on the stretcher between them, Masuki found herself turning to the Viceroy. “Minato-sama.” For what reason was she here? Even Lisa, Rinko, Ako, and the now recovered (albeit bandaged) Sayo were standing behind her-- her board of assistants. “A pleasant surprise to see you.”

She was about to bow when Yukina stopped her. “I am not here for formalities.” Masuki blinked, now mutely meeting her darkened gaze. “This is the fourth attack in the past month. Last month and the month before there were three each, and before that, two. This is a matter growing swiftly out of hand, is it not?” Her board nodded behind her in unison.

“So you want me to go investigate the cases and hunt down the vampire?” Masuki prompted, hefting one of her bloody, silver blades. Yukina nodded.

“Yes. I, Viceroy of Tsukichi, and my trusted board are demanding you to kill the vampire behind all these attacks. And that’s a command. I need you out of town by tomorrow morning, and I don’t want you back unless it’s with the vampire’s heart and fangs in a sack. Understand?” Yukina’s opal gaze was hardened to flint as she fixed it upon Masuki.

“And what of the village?” the hunter prompted flatly. Yukina knew that she was their best hunter; why else would she pick her to hunt the vampire? Sending her off, though, left the people wide open to attack. “Who’ll protect you when I’m gone?”

“Your coworkers will have to manage. Three trainees and two trained officers should be enough to handle one stray vampire bite, right? Though, if you succeed, there will be none to handle.” Masuki wanted to say that sending trainees at rabid villagers sounded like a recipe for disaster, but there was no questioning or room for doubt in Yukina’s voice. “Just go. You have one day before I need you out. You’re dismissed.”

“...Yes, Ma’m.”

And so, left with no choice, Masuki found herself in a traveling cloak by dawn.

It was looking to be a clear day. The clouds pooled by the horizon, feathery plumes tinted silver and dripping shades of red, violet, and pink into the grass, the light cast in the graces of the waking sun. A perfect day to begin her little journey.

Masuki was glad to find herself alone on the path, standing just outside of the emerald trees. She had a bag with rations and medical supplies, as well as an array of weapons; various daggers, serrated blades, all silver and sharpened to a point. If she had one shot to kill this vampire, she was going to make it count and return home, as soon as possible, she decided as she let out a misty sigh and stepped under the leaves.

As the sun swiftly pranced above the treetops, casting the sky a clear blue through the gaps between the branches, Masuki found the undergrowth dappled with patches of sunlight. She could hear little animals scurrying about in the undergrowth, hear the birds chirping; the world seemed golden, warm, glowing.

And yet, a part of her told her that she wasn’t alone in this forest.

Maybe it was the lapses in the birdsong, the rustling of their wings, as if fleeing from an unknown source; or perhaps it was the scraps of unnatural placement in the otherwise peaceful brush, like a broken branch or a dead mouse. Either way, Masuki knew her target had to be here somewhere, but where-

“E-Erm… hello..?”

Masuki nearly jumped out of her skin when a rather soft voice suddenly rose from behind her, cutting off her train of thought. She’d been sure that she was picking up every sound in the woods, every footstep, every animal; how did this person suddenly appear out of nowhere right next to her?

Whirling around, Masuki found herself face to face with another girl also in a traveling cloak, the large, black hood tugged up over her head. Brown hair peeked out from the edges, and a pair of dark blue eyes, like the night sky on an autumnal full moon, peered shyly out from the shadow. “Ah. Did I scare you?”

“By God, yes,” Masuki huffed, brushing herself off. “You’re real quiet, creeping up on me. Nobody’s done that in a long while.”

“Sorry…” The sneaky girl even had the nerve to be sheepish. Masuki gave her a once-over; the cloak covered her entire body in its nondescript form, and the only thing Masuki could note was that the girl was about the same height as her and also carried a basket.

“It’s no problem.” Masuki squinted at her; there was something about her that almost made the hunter want to distrust her, but she decided to humor her. “What do you need?”

“Umm, I entered the forest searching for an apple tree my friend told me was in here… She drew me a map and everything. But I’m lost… I’ve been lost for half a day now,” she admitted. “Could you help me find the tree?”

The look she was now giving Masuki reminded her of a begging cat, wide-eyed and pitifully trying to capture her good graces. It was more than convincing enough; despite her misgivings, nobody could possibly refuse some poor girl trying to pick apples. Masuki sighed and nodded. “Alright, I’ll help.”

 _...an apple tree, huh?_ Such an abnormal occurrence in the middle of the woods had to be magical, or otherwise artificial, by some means. Perhaps it would give her a lead on her vampire hunt.

“Oh, thank you so much!” The girl’s face instantly lit up, and she offered a small smile; a happy sight fully worth the trouble, Masuki offhandedly thought. “I’ll do my best to pay you back later.”

“It’s no problem. I think finding this tree might help with my own mission, too.” A pause. Golden eyes scanned the stranger up and down. “And what’s your name? It’d feel a little weird trekking through the forest with you while not knowing even that.”

“Ah, how impolite of me… I’m sorry.” The hooded girl was still smiling, though. “My name is Rei Wakana. Thank you for everything. And you?”

“Masuki Satou. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” And she offered Rei a ghost of a smile, which the latter beamed (a little too delightfully) back at. “Now, where’s that map you said you had?”

Rei and Masuki wound up wandering through the woods, following a rather vague map by Tae, Rei’s friend. According to the poorly-drawn sketch, it seemed the tree was supposed to be farther inwards and east of where Masuki had originally entered the forest.

As they walked, Masuki prompted Rei into casual chatter. Apparently, Rei was part of a small travelling group, and they were taking residence by the other side of the forest for a while, near the mountains. That would explain why her and her buddies decided it was a good idea to explore the place; after all, they wouldn’t know about the vampire living in the woods.

“Has anyone in your crew been bitten recently?” she asked as the two reached a small stream in the woods, the water shimmering like glass reflecting the sun’s gifts. Rei seemed to pause, frowning questionably; the two’s reflections rippled in the liquid.

“Bitten? By what?”

“A vampire. You know a vampire lives in these woods, right?” Masuki clicked her tongue. “To be honest, I’m very surprised you didn’t get attacked, wandering through this place at night. My village has gotten attacked four times in the last month, after all. That creature just doesn’t know when to stop.” The girls kept walking, crossing the stream via stepping stones. Rei seemed to be disturbed by this new info, though, fiddling with the hem of her cloak.

“Ah, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about it, though,” the hunter quickly reaffirmed. “I can protect you if we get jumped, or something, so there’s nothing to be afraid of in here.”

“Mmh. Thank you…” Despite her words, Rei was rather quiet for a long while after that.

The two were still walking by the time the sun dipped back under the horizon, casting the world in a blanket of crimson, followed by a cheesecloth blue, melting into darkness. Masuki halted them by a large oak tree as it began to grow dim under the leaf cover. “It’s dangerous to walk around in the dark. We might as well stop here and rest for the night.”

Rei was quiet as they settled down, Masuki unbuttoning the collar of her travel cloak in order to spread it more like a blanket. The two shared a piece of bread; from what she could see in the dying light, Masuki took note of the fact that Rei was merely nibbling at the edge of the roll. “Are you not hungry? Or are you still scared of the vampire?” Rei didn’t respond, suddenly growing still in the dark. “I can protect you, ya know. Don’t worry about it.”

“Mmh.” She returned to picking at her food, so Masuki turned away and decided to leave her be.

After eating, Masuki fluffed out her cloak around herself and looked over at Rei, who had curled up in a ball against the tree roots. “What’re you doing over there?”

“...sleeping?” Rei peeked out from under her hood, dark blue glittering like the first stars in the dusk-strewn sky. “What do you want?”

“Come here.” Masuki opened up her cape, beckoning the other to come around the tree. “You must not be very sociable, I figure. It’ll get even colder when the moon starts to really shine, and the worst thing that could happen now would be for you to catch a chill.”

Rei seemed almost surprised by the offer. “You want to… sleep… with me?” She seemed to be blinking in the shadows. Masuki wondered, for a moment, if she was the loner in her own nomadic crew, being so unaccustomed to such typical social norms. “But…”

“But what?” Masuki deadpanned. “Really, do you want to wake up freezing? And besides, it’ll be safer for us both to stay close, in case we get attacked by something in the night.”

At that, Rei hesitated a moment longer before scurrying over the roots and sliding next to Masuki, curled up and shyly shuffling over until their shoulders were just barely brushing. Sighing, the blonde threw the cloak over Rei’s shoulder and pulled her in with one arm around her waist. Rei squeaked in alarm before cautiously letting herself relax.

“Warmer?” Masuki prompted. She noted that Rei seemed to feel rather cool all over, as if her body temperature weren’t high enough. Or maybe that was just the cloak insulating her; you wouldn’t be able to tell.

“...yeah.”

“Goodnight, then. I’ll keep you safe, okay?”

And of course, Masuki fell asleep first.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept with another person.

The hunter awoke to something oddly cold against her neck.

Blinking open her eyes, Masuki found herself still in the glade in the woods. The earliest hints of sunshine were just beginning to strike the verdant leaves, reflecting on the dew-strewn grass like little stars. And, looking down…

It took all of Masuki’s willpower not to jump when she realized that, sometime through the night, Rei had practically wrapped herself around her. Her arms were locked around her sides, fingers digging into her ribs, and her head was resting on Masuki’s shoulder, lips brushing against the exposed skin of her neck above the collar, startling cold yet soft as sakura.

Side-eyeing the girl, whose hood was somehow still sitting over her head despite the oddly intimate position, Masuki couldn’t help but notice how (adorably) peaceful she looked in rest, shaded blue eyes calmly shut as her breath, warm like the morning sun’s kisses, tickled the underside of Masuki’s jaw. Her lips were slightly parted in sleep, soft and slightly rosy…

And just then, Masuki must have moved a bit too much, because Rei suddenly started awake, eyes going wide as she practically leaped off of Masuki, her face -which the hunter could now see was rather pale in the dim lighting- flushing a startling crimson, like blossoming, dark roses. “S-Satou-san! I-”

“...it’s okay.” Masuki blinked, watching Rei readjust her cloak around herself, knees to her chest as she tugged her hood down to cover her blushing face. _She’s… kind of cute when she’s embarrassed._ The thought made her ears go hot; she cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Erm, you’re awfully cold, though. Your lips were freezing.”

“Waaahhh…” Rei made a strange half-wail, half-groaning sound in shame, tugging the hood tighter over her head. “Could you please… forget about all that?”

For a moment, Masuki almost wanted to tease her, to preserve this flustered version of her just a little longer. But, unfortunately, time was of the essence here, and time was passing by like the wind. She merely smiled instead. “Alright, alright. I won’t bring up your cute, blushing face again, Wakana-san.”

“Satou-san!” Her voice rang out in protest. She lifted the hood a little, peering out of the shadows like a kitten. Masuki couldn’t help but laugh.

“I get it, I get it~” The blonde splayed out her limbs and stretched against the tree, retrieving her bag from her side. “Come on, now, let’s get ready to head out. I’m going to fetch water from the stream.”

The two walked all day until they made it to their destination.

The entire time, Rei seemed rather subdued, especially compared to when the two first met. Masuki chalked it up to the vampire thing; why’d she go and run her mouth telling her about that in the first place? There was no need to scare a normal person about it, anyway. Telling Rei she was a vampire hunter might just make her seem too intimidating as well, which was why she’d kept quiet on that bit.

Little did she know that her intuition was about to turn out as very useful, in just a few minutes…

The two arrived in a large clearing as the sun was setting, casting the world in shades of amber and indigo once again. A very tall and very worn church, with broken stone walls and a pointed, plated roof stood in the grass, oddly out of place and much too dark for comfort.

Masuki halted, permitting Rei to walk onwards, closer to the church, without her. The map was in her hands; she stared at it, and then up at the decrepit building. “This… this is where the map leads to. But I don’t see any tree. Hey, Wakana-san!”

Rei didn’t look back. She was just standing there, silently, the breeze tugging at her cloak tails as she stared up at the roof. “Wakana-san!” Masuki repeated, sharper. “What-”

“This morning, when I woke up on top of you…” Rei’s voice was soft, almost indecipherable over the wind. Masuki went stiff, clutching the map as she clung onto every word that fell upon her flushed ears. “You said I was cute. Did you mean it?”

It was an extremely odd, extremely out of place question. Masuki tilted her head in confusion. “Yeah, ‘course. Why?”

“It’s just…” And Rei finally turned back around, glancing over her shoulder, over her rippling hood’s edge, at Masuki. Her eyes were soft, empty, slightly sad, in an odd way; a hazy halation of gold shone around her as the sun’s crown died upon her head. “That’s the first time anyone has ever said that to me.”

“...Wakana-san, I-”

“Most times…” Rei went on, looking away once more as she cut off Masuki. “Most times, they describe me as horrific. Ugly. A curse upon the land.” Her voice was flat. Emotionless. Uncaring, but quietly contemplative.

Masuki’s eyes widened. “Wakana… san… Who could possibly say something so cruel?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it? They’re all dead.” A pause, in which the breeze finally grabbed Rei’s hood and tore it off of her head. She turned, then, watching Masuki’s reaction over her shoulder as a lovely swathe of sleek, chocolate hair and, more importantly, a pair of pointed ears were revealed to the chilly, open air.

One, two, three beats of silence. “Satou-san?” Rei murmured when Masuki didn’t move or speak. The blonde was caught in place, unable to do anything but stare.

“Who are you..?” she asked, her voice barely audible. “No, scratch that… _what_ are you?”

“...that’s subjective.” Rei turned fully around so that she could properly face Masuki. “I’ve been called many things. An abhorrence. A monster. A demon. A rabid bat. But, I suppose there’s one name in particular you would know me by.”

Her words were soft; emotionless. Hollow. And yet, her eyes bore a swirling pool of emotion-- was it guilt, or sorrow, or regret that Masuki could see in those beautiful droplets of cerulean? Or was it all three? She wouldn’t have the time to figure it out either way, though.

Sighing, Rei forced her lips to curl and part, wearing a joyless smile that revealed her teeth- no, her _fangs,_ sharp and pointed and far too familiar to Masuki.

“A vampire.”

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze.

Masuki found herself incapable of doing anything but staring at Rei, at the _vampire._ Her hair flowed in the wind, fluttering like a scarf around her still body; _she’s beautiful,_ Masuki realized in a rush of heat, the sun burning the image before her. _But no… No, she can’t be, she can’t be the vampire..! Vampires aren’t supposed to be like… her…_

Vampires were supposed to be beasts, to be cruel and ruthless and leap upon her like an animal, just like all of the bitten villagers, with blown pupils and bloodied faces while screaming incomprehensible curses.

And yet, Rei was none of that.

 _Move, Masuki!_ The hunter’s brain was reeling, every sensation around her starkly clear and as sharp as the daggers in her bag. _She’s the vampire, the one who’s been terrorizing Tsukichi… so why can’t you move?!_

Masuki knew why she couldn’t move.

Because Rei’s voice and laugh were ringing in her ears, the feeling of her hands and lips against her skin sending chills through her limbs; and now, the sight of her cloaked figure, with her ethereal eyes and shimmering hair and soft, fuzzy expression, was scorching itself into Masuki’s mind.

Rei was too human for her to kill, _no,_ too human even to injure.

_The moment you feel empathy is the moment you die._

So why wasn’t Masuki dead?

“Why aren’t you running?” Rei suddenly murmured. “I’m the vampire of the woods, the _creature_ who can’t stop in its lust for blood.” Her words were biting, almost bitter, as she echoed Masuki’s words from the previous morning. “So why aren’t you scared? Didn’t you leave your own village to escape from me? Why won’t you run?”

 _Right. The lie Masuki had told when asked why she was in the woods._ There was a kind of sorrow, of loneliness, in Rei’s voice, as if she thought it would be proper if Masuki fled but she wished against all odds for her to stay. It was perplexing to the hunter. “And why aren’t you attacking me?” Masuki found herself retorting, her voice nearly dead in her throat.

“...I’m not hungry.” And she turned away, as if in shame. “I assume you’d know why.”

“...yeah.” _Right. Eve._

A beat of silence. The sun was falling, lower and lower, the first star beginning to blink in the sky. The halation’s blaze had faded against Rei’s figure; she turned her head again, slender hands clutching the cloak around her figure, and it was now clear that there were markings under her eyes-- subtly glowing triangles of bright blue. _Like a fairy’s light._ “You’re still here.”

“Wh-Where else do I have to go?” She hastily scraped up an excuse, one to convince both herself and the vampire. She didn’t really know why she wasn’t running; she should be, whether away or at Rei with a knife, but she couldn’t bring herself to abandon this girl. She was captivated by her, for better or for worse, and she didn’t know what to do.

“You don’t want to go?” Rei seemed almost surprised, before a glint began to dawn upon her eyes. “If that’s the case, then…”

In a blink, she was gone. Masuki jumped, eyes wide, looking from side to side. “Huh? Wakana-”

Before she could even finish saying her name, there was suddenly a very cold sensation around her neck. “You can be my pet,” Rei cooed against her ear. Her breath was cold, her voice low and husky; Masuki shuddered, but Rei’s arm was held frozen around her. “If you truly don’t want to leave me, then keep me company… would you, kind human?”

Masuki found it almost funny that despite the clear position of authority Rei held over her, there was still a matter of questioning in her voice, as if asking for her opinion in the matter. “...of course,” she choked out.

She could have easily torn a dagger out of her pack and slit Rei’s throat right then and there. So why didn’t she? And why did the thought of doing so make her feel sick? It wasn’t like she was a stranger to blood, nor to harming others.

Masuki wasn’t sure why herself.

“Excellent. Goodnight.” And her opportunity was immediately lost as Rei pulled back and something pricked her at the base of her neck.

“Wh-” Before Masuki could react, or even move, the world turned black.

She awoke to a throbbing headache.

“Ugh…” Groaning, Masuki forced her eyelids open and tried to sit up. Her brain felt like it was rocking around in her skull, thumping against the back of her eyes. Even worse, she recognized not one bit of her surroundings.

She was laying on a beige blanket atop a wooden seat. It seemed that she was in the abandoned church; the furniture she’d slept upon was a pew. In front of her was an altar, quartz with sapphires embedded into it. And sprawled out over it...

“Ah. You’re awake.” It was Rei, still wearing her black cloak and hood over her head. She ran her tongue over one of her fangs, generously showing off the pointed tips of those deadly, ivory canines, as if reminding Masuki of who she was, in case last night had been forgotten in her induced slumber (it hadn’t). “Good morning.”

“Good morning yourself.” The blonde groaned and hauled herself up to sit in the pew instead of lying on it. Rubbing her temples, she glanced up at Rei and around the room. The stained glass behind the vampire was partially covered in vines and ivy, but light still shone through fragmented parts of it, casting a fractured, multicolored glow over her figure. “This is the inside of the church, right? You live here?”

“Yeah. Fitting for a vampire, isn’t it?” Rei hopped off of the altar, picked something up off of the pew in the first row, and strode over to Masuki. Even from her seated vantage point, Masuki could now tell that Rei was actually rather tall-- possibly taller than Masuki herself, which was no small feat. “Here. You can change into this.”

She found herself presented with a black suit. “Where the heck did you get this?” she muttered.

Rei shrugged, dropped the outfit on the bench. “Looting off of travelers and villages is a hobby of mine,” Rei bluntly said. “I’m sure you think it’s unethical, but really, how else would I obtain _any_ clothes in the first place?”

“...you have a good point, I guess.” Masuki sighed and picked up the garments to inspect them. They were of decent quality, similar to her own hunter’s suit at home. _Home… Right, how long will I stay with Rei, anyway? I can’t possibly stay here forever. But… would I stay long enough to call this place my home?_

There was no time to dwell on that, though. Rei had walked down the aisle, towards the back of the church; Masuki turned around and jumped as she found a large apple tree actually growing in a patch of exposed earth within the tall building. The roofing high above was broken in places, and a large hole fashioned right above the tree allowed it to grow a plentiful amount of fruit, rosy apples specked with gold that Rei was currently picking with a gloved hand, her hood tucked over her head and casting her body in shade despite the frosted light.

“Wow. You weren’t lying about the apple tree thing.”

“I don’t lie about a lot of things.” She returned with two apples, glossy and warm; wiping one of them off with a white handkerchief, she handed it to Masuki. “You can eat this for breakfast, too. Don’t humans do that?”

“You’re right. And thank you.” Masuki took the apple and watched as Rei began eyeing up her own. “If you don’t mind me asking… Why are you eating an apple? I thought vampires couldn’t consume anything but blood.”

“You must not know a lot about vampires, then. Of course I can eat other food.” Rei bared her fangs and scraped a line into the apple, perhaps for fun. “It’s just that nothing but blood actually helps with hunger. We get hungry less quickly compared to humans, though, thankfully.” She took a bite out of the fruit. Chewing and swallowing contemplatively, she licked her lips. “And apples are sweet. I think it’s nice.”

“You like sweets? I can give you my last sugar bonbon.” Masuki had packed two candies along with her; she’d eaten one in the woods, but the other could go to Rei.

“...I’ll see,” she replied, her voice more of an incoherent echo to the hunter than anything; Masuki was enraptured, watching her and her every calculated movement, sharp and clean, as if neatly making work of prey. Besides, she’d never thought she’d ever see a (very pretty) vampire eat an apple in an abandoned church filled with shards of light and color. It was truly a sight to keep in her memory…

“Hm? Satou-san? What’re you looking at me like that for?” Masuki jumped; Rei had since turned to meet her gaze, her face slightly flushed in the shadow of her hood.

“...nothing. Forget that.” The blonde looked away and began to eat the apple instead. It really was as sweet as Rei said, but the taste was edged with an undertone of rust. _Like blood._

No wonder she liked them.

Being Rei Wakana’s “pet” was a lot less work than Masuki expected.

She’d nearly forgotten that vampires were supposed to be nocturnal, so she was a little surprised when Rei wandered into the back rooms of the church, found an old, red couch, and knocked out like a light on it. She’d removed her cloak and laid it over herself like a blanket.

Masuki figured she might as well try to sleep, too; her head still ached from whatever Rei had done to knock her out (perhaps a different vampire venom she didn’t know about, since she’d obviously not been bitten). Besides, it was kind of pointless to stay with Rei if their sleep schedules were so offset, so she tried to sleep on the church pew from before.

Laying down and shutting her eyes, she wondered what Maya, what Rokka, what Yukina would say if they saw her like this, deciding to hang out with the oh-so terrible vampire of Tsukichi’s worst nightmare and letting her guard down in said vampire’s home.

But something in the back of her mind told her that this was alright; Rei bore none of the traits Masuki had expected out of her. Surely, if the people of Tsukichi got to know her, nobody would even think about killing her.

She couldn’t help but worry, though.

How long would she stay?

She couldn’t stay forever.

It was a matter to consider when she awoke, she figured as she dozed off.

Rei was surprised to find her awake at the midnight hour.

“I thought humans were diurnal.” She’d shed the cloak entirely, being more in her element under moonlight; Masuki could now see that she was wearing a white blouse and a black, underbust corset over it. Black pants and tall boots adorned her slender legs and feet. The markings under her eyes were glowing a brilliant arctic-blue, like the silver tails of stars shining in the inky expanse.

They were standing outside the church; Rei was obviously about to head out into the woods, and Masuki had chased after her. The ribbons of a million galaxies now danced over their heads, indigo ink staining the sky.

“It feels a little rude to sleep all night if I’m supposed to be staying with you,” Masuki retorted. She wanted to learn more about Rei, spend more time with her, and the only way to do that was to follow her schedule. “And I want to see what you do outside of attacking Tsukichi.”

“...fine.” Rei sighed and permitted her to tag along into the darkness of the forest. “I’m not the only ‘creature’ in these woods, you know,” she said. “We have territory lines. I know my land by the tree. Arisa-san knows hers, as do Hana-chan and Tsugumi.”

“Are they also vampires?” Masuki followed Rei, keeping her light like a lantern just a few feet ahead of her. The hunter really didn’t want to have to deal with more vampires, though; she had left her weaponry in her bag back at the church. Rei had taken it off of her the first night and left it in a pew; fortunately, she hadn’t seemed to have done any snooping. If she’d found the silver daggers, she probably would’ve killed Masuki in her sleep already.

“Hana-chan --Tae Hanazono-- is. The others are yokai. It’s a wonder we ever got to an agreement on borders at all.” Rei sighed and halted by a large tree covered in moss. “It doesn’t look like Arisa-san’s been to any trouble here, at least.”

 _“Wan!”_ The sound of a fox’s piercing bark suddenly erupted from a bush just on the other side of the oak. There was a rustling sound before a girl dressed in a red and white kimono emerged from the leaves. A pair of silver fox ears stuck out of her long, dirty-blonde hair, and two red and white tails could be seen peeking out from under the kimono hem. Her violet eyes reflected Rei’s light. “You were talking about me behind my back, eh, Wakana Rei?!”

“Good evening, Arisa-san.” Rei was unfazed by the sudden appearance of the yokai, nor her far-from-happy greeting. “Staying on your own territory tonight?”

“Of course. I saw that you got yourself a pet,” Arisa said pointedly, flicking one ear to Masuki, who was curiously peering over Rei’s shoulder. “Don’t want to get her in trouble now, would you?”

“I can handle myself, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Masuki said. Arisa regarded her with narrowed eyes. “You’re a yokai, huh? A shapeshifter. Your other form is a fox?”

“Yeah! Why do you wanna know, human?” Arisa bit back. She sure had the temperament of a fox, that was for sure.

“Can you turn into it anytime you want?”

“Of course!” Arisa huffed, and in a wave of her oversized sleeve, her figure shrunk down and whirled into a white and gold canine, with silver ears and violet eyes and a pair of bushy tails. She trotted over to Masuki; Rei watched, not bothering to chase her back to her side of the territory marker.

“...how cute.” Masuki bent down to pet her on the head, but Arisa immediately scrambled back and transformed into humanoid form again, her cheeks now rather flushed and hair mussed.

“I’m not cute, you idiot!” she cried, catching her breath, her ears flopping down and angled to the ground.

Masuki grinned, almost laughing. Despite being a yokai, she sure was easy to tease. “But the face you’re making now is pretty cute, ya know, Arisa-chan~ You’re awfully fluffy t-”

“I-I said I’m not cute!” she wailed, face now red as a tomato, before promptly turning on her heel and running away.

Masuki watched her disappear into the darkness and chuckled. She turned back to Rei. “She’s fun. Is she always like that?”

“...yeah.” Much to her surprise, Rei didn’t offer any other words and instead turned to walk away, catching Masuki by the wrist and dragging her along as she passed. Her ungloved hand was as cold as Masuki recalled, but her skin was soft, now that the other had the peace to take note of it.

“H-Hey, what’s with that attitude?” Masuki protested. Rei didn’t reply; she even looked away slightly. “Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“...”

“You’re kinda cute when you’re jealous, too,” the blonde murmured, to which Rei seemed flustered by, judging by the way her markings began glowing red instead of blue. _How adorable._ She seemed rather clingy, as well as sensitive, especially for a vampire. 

Masuki allowed Rei to drag her along; it saved her the stress of making sure not to get left behind, too. The two walked seemingly along the territory line; a good five minutes must have passed before they made their next encounter.

“Boo!” Masuki had to admit, she jumped at least a little when a girl with long, dark hair suddenly dropped upside down out of a tree, hanging like a bat from a leafy branch. She had green eyes and was baring her sharp, bloodsucking fangs at Rei in an open-mouthed grin. Rei seemed taken aback for a moment, before laughing at Tae’s antics (it had to be Tae, Masuki reasoned, because Rei said there was only one other vampire at her doorstep).

“Hey, Hana-chan. What’re you doing?”

“I was waiting for you to show up. You always patrol your territory, every night, so I figured I’d hang out in a tree until you came this way. I was also hoping you wouldn’t start feeding twice a week and leaving me hanging high and dry,” she explained, frowning at that last sentence. Her gaze suddenly slipped over Rei’s shoulder and onto Masuki, and her expression lit up like a lamp.

“A human!” She dropped down out of the tree as nimbly as a squirrel and was suddenly very, very close to Masuki’s face. “Hmm… you smell different from the Hibiki villagers. You’re cool though. You have pretty eyes. Those look good for sucking.”

The vampire was wearing a dark blue dress over white pants, as well as a white apron that covered her front. She was staring, wide-eyed, into Masuki’s gaze and forcing her to meet it. Tae had leafy-green irises and dark red, diamond-shaped pupils; Masuki had never been able to observe Rei’s eyes like this before, and she wondered if she had diamond-shaped pupils, too. Her face was swiftly flushing rose under the pressure Tae was placing on her.

The vampire must’ve looked past her welcome, though, because Rei intervened after a few seconds. “Now, now, Hana-chan, you’re not allowed to bite out this one’s eyes,” she said, waving a hand between the two from around Masuki’s neck and forcing Tae to back off. She had stepped up behind Masuki and now had her arms hovering around the hunter’s ribs; her cheek was quite close to Masuki’s, close enough that the latter could feel her body chill. “She’s my new pet, Masuki Satou-san.”

“Ohhhh~” Tae cooed, smiling as she gave Masuki a once-over. “Like a meal-toy, or-”

“Oh, come on, I’m not _that_ mean!” Rei whined, now looping her arms over her pet’s shoulders and pouting, her markings flashing scarlet. The blonde found herself suddenly very close to her vampire friend, Rei’s chest flush against her back. Her whole body was quite cold. “Don’t listen to her, Masuki. I won’t bite you.”

Tae laughed as Masuki’s face went red again. “You must’ve liked this one a whole lot,” she commented. “Have fun with her, alright?” A pause; Tae suddenly leaned in, her expression quickly darkening as she snagged Masuki’s gaze again. This time, though, her wide eyes bore a kind of haunted threat.

“And you, _Satou Masuki…_ You better treat her well.” Tae’s voice was hushed as she spoke. Masuki found cold sweat beading over her temples and on her neck; _what does she mean..?_

Rei sighed and bopped Tae on the head with one hand, breaking the spell at once. “You’re scaring her,” she said, untangling herself from Masuki and taking her by the hand again. “Satou-san here was the one who refused to leave, anyway. We’ve been getting along, I think.”

Masuki couldn’t make any disagreement to any of that; she nodded meaningfully, and Tae tilted her head in consideration. “Hmm. Very interesting.” She perked up once more, grinning as she turned away. “Well, you two enjoy yourselves, then. Have a nice night~”

“You too, Hana-chan!” Rei called as the other vampire disappeared into the darkness. She let out a breath and began on her way once more, Masuki at her hand.

“Hey, Wakana-san… What did she mean by that..?” the blonde softly spoke up. Around them, the shadows seemed darker, despite the fact that the glow of Rei’s markings was still illuminating the path before them and more. Rei seemed to deflate at the question.

“Not much. Don’t be scared by her; she doesn’t really mean any of it.” A pause. “She’s just fussy sometimes. Protective. I mean, you’re the first human I’ve ever taken home…” She seemed hesitant to continue; Masuki stayed silent.

“You know, the reason I was wandering around the forest acting as a traveler was because I was trying out a new hunting strategy,” she said, her voice hushed. “It’s what Hana-chan does. And yet, when I met you, I couldn’t bring myself to attack you, not even when we slept.” Her grip tightened around Masuki’s wrist as they strode onwards. “I don’t know why, but I don’t want to hurt you. Seriously. I want you to trust me…”

“...It’s okay. I do trust you.” At that, Rei halted and turned her head, her wide eyes and parted lips illuminated by the indigo light. Masuki grinned. “The fact you haven’t killed me yet is enough proof of your words for me.”

“Satou-san…” Rei seemed to be struck for a moment, her markings shifting like a gradient from purple to red as her face flushed. “I… thank you.” She turned away from Masuki’s smile. “Let’s finish patrol and head back, alright?”

“Sure.”

The last border to walk through was by a certain yurei’s land.

“Tsugumi Hazawa is her name. She can be darn difficult to deal with at times. She’s a spirit tied to the world of the living by grief,” Rei explained as they approached the border. “Her sorrow leads her to sometimes wander without abandon. I feel almost bad kicking her off my land. Once she meandered all the way to the church before turning back on her own.”

As if right on a cue, there was a rustling in the leaves just ahead of the two, and Rei snapped around towards the disturbance. “Ah. She’s here, and across the border already.”

“Rei-san?” A soft, haunted voice filtered out from the dark. “Rei-san? Where are you?”

“Tsugumi.” At Rei’s call, the flickering figure of a short girl in a white burial kimono, the cloth almost glowing in the moonlight, emerged. She had short, brown hair and wide, sad, chocolate eyes.

“You’re back.” The ghost of a smile tugged at her paling lips. “And…” Her gaze slid over to Masuki, and then down to Rei’s hand, which was clutching her wrist. Her expression took on a look of wonder. “...you brought a living human?”

“Yeah. This is Masuki Satou-san, my new pet.” Rei gestured towards Masuki with her free hand. “She actually refused to leave, and that’s why she’s here. Fun, isn’t that?”

“Hm.” Tsugumi shuffled closer, edging up to the two of them. “The will of love often compels humans to make strange decisions. Foolish human,” she added in a mutter. “Foolish me.”

“H-Hazawa-san..?” Masuki asked. Next to her, Rei had let go of her hand and was once again quietly watching their interaction.

“When I died, all of my friends were sad to see me go,” Tsugumi continued, her grey-brown gaze boring into Masuki’s. “‘An accident,’ they said. ‘She shouldn’t have died so young,’ they said. It pained me to see them so sad, and it made me feel sad and guilty, too… And so I’m trapped, a yurei, bound to the world of the living by my unfinished business.” She shook her head, looking away. “Their love drove them to such grief, and mine has kept me here, hoping to one day see them again and see them happy.”

“I… I’m sorry, Hazawa-san.” _She does look young… Younger than me, certainly,_ Masuki thought. _Not even 18... she really was just a kid when she died._ “I hope you’ll see them aga-”

“But can’t you see what I mean?” Tsugumi suddenly cut her off, her eyes wide with a surprisingly warm kind of intensity, like a white flame. “The will of love can hold even spirits, shift time, stop or speed the clock. You’ve fallen in its trap, too, haven’t you?”

“What? Who are you to say I’m in love, or something?!” The thought made Masuki’s face flush a brilliant scarlet; she couldn’t read Rei’s expression in her peripheral, but the light of the clearing sure was turning purple.

“I’m a yurei built out of love,” was all Tsugumi replied with before abruptly changing the subject. “You know, Masuki-san, time never really passes in these woods.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You see the same people every day, do the same things, see the same sights.” Tsugumi sighed, a sad puff of cold fog. “Nothing changes. Nothing shifts. The clock is frozen, the same day plays on repeat. But you… you come from a place where time moves.” A pause; a look of hope crossed Tsugumi’s expression, if only for just half a second. “And… if you ever do go back, back to that warm, bright, sunny clock... tell Ran and Moca, and Himari and Tomoe, to come back for me, okay?”

Perhaps it was just luck that Tsugumi’s living home had also been Tsukichi; Masuki recognized those names. It was only unfortunate that they were the names of people who had already died, maybe even a decade ago. _How long has she been here, stuck in the forest..?_ There was no way Masuki could tell this yurei that, though, and break her heart by revealing her friends had already left her behind. All she could say instead was “Alright,” in reply.

“Thank you.” Tsugumi smiled, a genuine curve of her lips, the thought of her beloved companions returning for her filling her little body with hope. _A false hope,_ Masuki thought guiltily, looking away. “I hope you two will have a nice time together, then.”

And just like that, she was gone, turning to walk back to her side of the border once more. Rei sighed, watching her go. “That was the happiest I’d seen her in a while,” she murmured once Tsugumi was out of earshot. “What a cruel thing you’ve done.” She must’ve been able to read the lie, the guilt in her eyes, unlike the desperate yurei.

“The alternative was crueler,” Masuki muttered.

“Oh well. What’s done is done.” With that, Rei took her by the wrist and began to walk away again. “Let’s go back to the church.”

“Okay.”

About two weeks must have passed before the first incident.

Masuki awoke one evening to find Rei gone.

“Wakana… san..?” Masuki found, almost to her surprise, that her first reaction to discovering the church empty was fear. _What if a different vampire hunter came and got her? Maya, maybe?_

And yet, the logic in that didn’t line up. If the trainees were getting worried about Masuki taking too long, it wouldn’t be after two weeks. It took one nearly a week for a roundabout trip into the forest and back, after all; so where did Rei go?

A part of her questioned why she felt such concern for a _vampire,_ of all things, but Masuki was currently concerned for Rei, as a person. At one point, she’d disconnected the ideas of vampire and Rei Wakana in her mind; yes, Rei may have been a vampire, but she was unlike any other. She was too kind to fit the image of one, so Masuki ignored the fact that they were one in the same and carried on.

“Wakana-san? Hello?” Exiting the church, Masuki called out to the open air. Nothing but the chirp of insects answered her back in the moonlight dark of night. _“Wakana-saaaaan?! Reeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiii?!”_

 _“Wan! Wan!”_ Suddenly, the sound of barking erupted from the nearby trees, and Arisa --in fox form, of course-- suddenly burst into the clearing. In a whirlwind of red, she transformed into a human, picking leaves out of her dirty-blonde hair.

“Eh? Arisa-san? Aren’t you way over your border?” Masuki stared at the yokai, who currently looked very annoyed about something as she regarded her with a glare.

“You dummy! Why’re you yelling loud enough for the whole forest to hear?!” Arisa snapped.

“W-Well, Wakana-san was gone when I woke up, so-”

“Idiot! She’s out hunting!” At that, Masuki froze. “She leaves at sunset, hunts and feeds, then returns by sunrise. If she’s not back by the time the sky’s orange, then you’ve got a problem to shout about!”

“Ah. Alright, then.” Deflating, Masuki turned away and made to go back to the church.

“H-Hey, why the long face?” Arisa’s voice suddenly softened as she called out from behind her, a note of concern audible in her words. “She’s coming back y’know?” When Masuki didn’t reply, merely continuing to walk along, she heard the yokai huff. “Lovesick dummy.”

Whether or not Rei was returning wasn’t Masuki’s concern. Well, not her primary concern, at least.

No, her worry was for the people back in Tsukichi.

_What’ll they think, getting another vampire attack when I’m supposed to be out here hunting said vampire..? What’ll they say to me when I return home, eventually, some day, probably soon, with no prize in my hands?_

There was also the vague thought that one of the trainees, maybe Maya, might actually catch Rei. Then Masuki would be lost in the woods, and her guide would be just another dead vampire buried six feet under. Arisa was right, in a way; Masuki was kind of worried about the vampire’s wellbeing, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

She could hear Arisa leaving behind her as she made her way back into the church. There were no lamps anywhere in the woods; Rei’s glowing markings were their only light source, and Rei was gone for the night, so Masuki figured she might as well wander around the church while her eyes adjusted to the dark.

Eventually, after getting lost in the many back rooms and trapdoors of the church’s insides, Masuki miraculously found herself in Rei’s room, with the cozy red couch. She found herself drawn to it; laying down on the velvet cushion, she found it rather soft, the plush lining sinking against the curves of her body. _It smells like her…_ The cloth was inexplicably embedded with Rei’s sweet scent, flowery and tinted with the crispness of autumnal apples. _Mmh… Tired…_

And so Masuki found herself drifting off upon the crimson pillow.

…

She awoke quite a while later.

Blinking open her eyes and mumbling something incomprehensible to herself, she jumped out of her skin to find a figure dressed in a black nightgown standing over her.

“Uwahh!!” She screamed before realizing it was just Rei, her markings flashing white; perhaps in surprise. Her wide-eyed gaze landed upon Masuki, who was still sitting on her couch.

“Uhh… I’m sorry for sleeping in your bed,” Masuki quickly said, hurrying to scurry off of the piece of furniture and back to the other side of the room. However, Rei didn’t seem annoyed in the slightest; in fact, her face seemed to be flushed faintly rose, bashful as she regarded the blonde.

“Uh… It’s alright. You look nice when you’re sleeping.” A pause; her face was turning pinker and pinker. “Forget I said that. It’s fine. I don’t mind you borrowing it when I’m out.”

“Oh… right. You went to Tsukichi… right?” Masuki frowned. Rei seemed to sense her apprehension, her markings going dark and casting the two of them in shadow.

“Yeah.”

“Who’d you… bite?”

“A girl with light blue hair. She doesn’t look like she’ll be all that wild once she’s on her blood-high; she was a little klutzy.”

 _Kanon._ “You’re sure nobody saw you, right? Especially not a girl with short, brown hair and spectacles?” Masuki insisted. Rei seemed a little taken aback at her tone.

“Of course. I’m never seen.”

“Good.” A sigh; Masuki looked down, and once again, doubt flooded through her veins. _Should I really stay here..? While my village is being tormented by the very host of the home I’m staying in…_ “You and I both would be in big trouble if you get followed back here.”

“Satou-san… I’ve been doing this for years. I’m always careful not to be seen.” She strode forward, the dark cloth of her dress fluttering by her calves, and approached Masuki. Reaching out, she rested one cold hand on her head, running her fingers through her locks as if she were petting a dog. “And I’ll be careful not to get you in trouble. I assume your villagemates wouldn’t like it if they found out you were staying with me.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to leave?” Rei’s voice softened. “I know it’s probably a hassle for you, hanging around here, really-”

“No. No, I don’t want to leave.” Masuki quickly retorted. “I really don’t.” And it was true; dangerous as it was to hang out near Rei, she truly didn’t want to go and abandon her. “Just… if you ever see the girl I mentioned earlier, or anyone in a suit… don’t attack them. They’re vampire hunters.”

“Vampire hunters, huh..?” Rei’s voice was contemplative for a moment, but she pulled back, shrugged, and made for her bed once more. “I’ll look out for them. But I’m sleeping now. What’re you going to do all day? I can’t see you sleeping any more.”

“...I dunno.” She was right; Masuki had just offset her entire sleep schedule again.

“You know what--” There was a glint in her eye as a smile tugged at Rei’s lips. “Come here.” She opened up her arms, leading the other blinking at her in the dark and wondering if she was hearing right. “The last time we slept together was… nice.” She seemed to waver, as if growing embarrassed. “So, umm… If you want to, you can just… let me sleep with you?”

“I-” Masuki paused. She wasn’t exactly against the idea, per say. But sleeping with Rei… god, the thought made her feel all light and fuzzy and hot, and she had no idea if that was a good thing. “I… think that’d be nice. I’ll join you.”

“Excellent.” And so, Masuki walked over and laid back down on the couch, allowing herself to curl up in Rei’s arms. Her chest was flush against Masuki’s, and her head was against her shoulder. For once, her body was warm; possibly because she just fed. _But she smells like flowers…_

“What is it that humans say when they sleep..?” Rei’s voice was soft and sleepy, her breath tickling Masuki’s flushed ear like a breeze. “Mmh... Goodnight, Masu...ki…”

And she promptly knocked out with her limbs tangled around the blonde.

 _...god, she’s tired enough to call me by first name._ The gesture filled Masuki’s chest with an aching kind of warmth, as if she were being lit on fire from inside, but in a good way. “You’re real cute when you’re all sleepy, huh?” she mumbled. Rei didn’t reply, instead tucking Masuki closer to her chest in her dreams.

And she couldn’t help but smile at just how _soft_ and _sweet_ the girl was. She tried to plant a name upon this feeling, this warmth, this pulsing, aching joy, like the light of a thousand stars, of the sun reflecting upon a sapphire river. _Lovesick idiot,_ Arisa had called her.

 _Who knows._ She toyed with the thought for a moment, alone in the dark, spare for the vampire’s softly beating heart keeping her company. _Maybe she’s right, and Tsugumi too._ What other word could she place to this feeling, this joy? Why else was she so hesitant to desert her?

And for a moment, Masuki wondered if she really was falling for this girl. _A vampire hunter and a vampire... what an ironic couple,_ she hazily thought as she began to drift off again.

“Goodnight, Rei,” she mumbled. “I’m glad... you came back.”

The nights passed after that just like before, only Rei started calling her by first name.

“Hey, Masuki, you’ve never really told me about life in human villages before,” Rei commented one night as the two were lying in the grass, staring up at the stars on a moonless night. “What’s it like... being human?”

“...” Masuki wasn’t quite sure what to say; she couldn’t give her the truth, that she was a hunter trained to kill those of Rei’s kind, but she couldn’t possibly lie, either. “It’s nice,” she decided. “There’s lots of people, lots of smiles, and festivals... You get to eat a satisfying meal every night, too, like roasted meat, and bread and butter, and ramen.” She had to admit, she missed the diversity of her meal back at home, just a little; the forest nuts and fruits and apples that Rei gnawed on for fun were only so appealing for so long to a normal person.

“Ramen?”

“Dough cut into thin strips called noodles, which are then cooked in a broth. You can add an egg, veggies, meat, that kinda stuff, and lots of spices,” Masuki explained. “If I ever got the chance to... maybe I could try to give you a taste of it. Go home, bring the ingredients with me into the woods and make it over a fire.” She laughed; _wishful thinking,_ she and Rei both knew.

“It sounds nice, though...” Rei sighed. “I once tried acting as a traveler and wandering from village to village, Hana-chan and I. It feels like so long ago... we saw so many sights, tried so many foods. I can’t recall how any of it tastes anymore.”

“Mmh.” The hunter tilted her head back, finding the North Star hanging high above, shining like a sapphire, an opal, transcendent, pointing her home. _Where is home for me now, though, truly?_ “It must’ve been lonely, living in the woods with nobody but two yokai and Tae-san to keep you company.”

“It was, really.” Rei’s voice was soft; wistful. “Hana-chan and I sort of kept to ourselves in the woods for the longest time, but we’ve recently been trying to rekindle that old friendship. There was a mishap at our last village stop; I messed up, got ourselves unveiled, and we barely got out. Hana-chan’s missing an ear, you know that?”

“Huh?! Really?” Masuki hadn’t even noticed. In the dim lighting, with everything else going on every time they got to see her, she’d never taken a particular note of what was behind her hair. “I... didn’t, actually.”

“Got it cut off by a hunter. They were really raving for our blood that time,” Rei continued. “And so we’re stuck in the forest. If not, we would still be traveling, but the risk of our heads being held for bounty after the last incident is too high.” She turned her head to Masuki, cerulean eyes gleaming without emotion in the pure starlight. “What else do you humans do, again?”

“Well... I have friends,” Masuki offered. “Maya-san’s my coworker, Lisa-san invites me out to hang out at festivals and the likes, and Rokka-san’s a childhood friend.”

“What do you do for work?”

“...I’m a chef at a restaurant.” It wasn’t a lie; cooking _was_ her part-time job. “The ramen shop.”

“I see.” A pause. “Do you miss home?”

The question, Masuki found, much to her surprise, was difficult to answer. “I... don’t know,” she finally said, carefully. “The weeks I’ve spent here, with you... it’s the most alive I’ve felt in years. But my family, and friends, and normality-- all of it lies back in Tsukichi. I can’t seem to let go of either.”

“...so, if I let you go...” Rei’s voice was quiet; apprehensive. “Where would you choose to go? Would you stay here... or would you go home?”

“...” Masuki turned her head around in the grass. Rei was staring dead-straight up to the sky. “You tryin’ to kick me out?”

“H-Huh?! No, not at all!” Startled, she turned around, and the two found themselves facing each other, wide, dark blue eyes meeting golden irises and blown, dark pupils. “If I had it my way... I’d keep you here forever. But... that would be rather selfish of me, wouldn’t it?”

“Huh?” Masuki’s face flushed rose in the dark, mirroring the vampire’s own crimson face. “Rei…”

“I mean… you’re the first human I’ve really met in… years.” Her voice was shaking, ever so slightly. Was it out of shame, or was it nerves? Nevertheless, Masuki reached out one hand, and Rei took it. _She’s still as cold as ever..._ “You’ve been such a good friend to me… And you’re always kind to me, kinder than any other human I’ve ever met. I don’t want to lose that.” She let her eyes drift away, avoiding Masuki’s flustered expression and parted lips. Her next words were naught but a whisper.

“You don’t care that I’m a vampire… even though you’re a vampire hunter.”

...

...

...

“...what?”

Masuki couldn’t find any word to describe the volley of emotions dropped on her head in that moment other than _shock._ Rei refused to meet her gaze, but her hand wasn’t leaving the other’s, either. “H-How..? How did you find out?”

“Your bag.” There was a kind of guilt in Rei’s voice, something that almost made Masuki want to laugh. _How could she possibly feel self-conscious in a predicament like this-?!_ “The time I got up while you were still sleeping… I was bored, waiting for you to rouse, so I found myself drawn to your bag… and I found your knives. Silver knives-- the only reason you’d have so many weapons of that precious metal would be if you were a hunter. I’d know, because I’ve fought against them before.”

Her voice was growing softer and softer. Her fingers tightened around Masuki’s as she gripped her hand. “I’m sorry…”

“S-Sorry?! Why are you sorry?” Masuki truly had no idea what to do. Panic? Cry? Run, while she had the chance, before Rei bit her to death to stop her from backstabbing her? Not that Masuki could, nor would, but what were the odds of Rei knowing that? “I’m… a vampire hunter. And you’re a vampire.”

“Yes, I think we’ve already established that.”

“So why do you still trust me?” Masuki sat up; the brunette followed suit, tried to look away; Masuki shuffled closer, reached out with one hand, and cupped it against Rei’s cheek, forcing her to stare back at her with ashamed, nearly-tearful eyes. _Blue eyes, the color of the mountains, of sapphires, of the brilliant, daylit sky._ “Why-? How could you possibly trust me, you idiot?!”

She nearly regretted letting her voice rise, because it was then that the glossy shine of tears lit up those beautiful irises of pure starlight. “Because… Oh, I don’t know!” Her voice cracked, and Masuki felt something hot and wet melt against her fingers. Rei reached up with one hand and wrapped her fingers around Masuki’s wrist, but didn’t even try to shove her away. “I just know that I didn’t want you to leave, I didn’t want to kill you! I couldn’t, I can’t possibly hurt you! I should be the one asking why you didn’t kill me, anyway!”

“...” At that, Masuki had no answer.

Why hadn’t she killed Rei?

Rei was too kind, too _real_ to lay a dagger upon. But she was still a vampire, and Masuki’s work was still unfinished as she laid barred from returning home, unable to take the forest beast’s head and fangs and be done with this whole fiasco, unable to return home and return to normal life. Would she even be able to do so if she ever committed such a sin? She didn’t think so.

“Masuki?”

The girl was stunned out of her blinking trance by Rei’s voice, by her head against her palm and her fingers against her pulse, shimmering trails of crystalline tears overflowing from her perfect eyes and slipping down her perfect face. “Why..?” she repeated. “Why won’t you kill me?”

“...because… you’re too human.”

“Eh?”

“You’re too human for me to ever harm, much less kill.” Masuki murmured, doing her best to steadily hold Rei’s swirling, stunned gaze. “I… don’t want to hurt anyone anymore. I’ve shed enough blood as it is subjugating the vampire spawn you created. So… I couldn’t possibly hurt you, too. You’re too precious to me to die.”

“Masuki…” Rei held her sad, silent stare for a few extra seconds before looking away, her hand sliding up to cup over the fingers upon her cheek. Masuki felt her smile under her touch. “Thank you… for everything. For being kind to me.”

A pause, and her markings light up, the light soft and hazy and warm against the other’s skin, reflecting off of her eyes, brimming with joy, with pure, simple adoration. _Pink light, rosy as sakura._

“You’re my everything, Masuki.”

And Masuki realizes, then, that she had fallen too far in love.

Of course, this dreamy respite couldn’t last forever.

Rei had just arrived back from another feeding trip out to Tsukichi the night prior. Masuki had awoken at the crack of dusk with the vampire tied around her, head buried in her chest and limbs thrown over her, confining her to the couch. They’d somehow made a habit out of this-- Masuki sleeping in the same bed as her. It was nice; as if cold-blooded, Rei seemed to warm up when held.

Lying in the room, Masuki jumped when there was a dull, faint _thump_ outside the church, followed by the soft sound of someone cursing and another shushing them. _Intruders..? No… no, it can’t be-_

“Mmh… Masuki?” Rei had been awakened, either by the blonde starting her awake or by the unwelcome noise in their otherwise silent world. “What is it..?”

“Stay quiet. There’s some people outside the church,” Masuki whispered. In the dark, the vampire’s eyes widened as the two sat up, stiffly awaiting there to be more sound. There wasn’t.

“I’m going to go out and see what it is,” the blonde decided, moving to grab the suit (which would be easier to move in) from the top of the cabinet next to the sofa. “You change, too, in case you have to fight your way out. I can’t guarantee I can send them off if there’s a group of them waiting out there.”

“Masuki, you don’t have t-”

“Just listen to what I say.” Masuki knew exactly who it was; who would enter the woods and wind up precisely here, at this desolate church tucked away in the throng of trees, especially so soon after Rei went to Tsukichi? It seemed that her time in paradise was up as she emerged into the main chambers of the church, grabbed a set of blades from her bag (which was still sitting innocently in its pew) and headed outside.

Masuki emerged to find, as expected, five people in black cloaks frenziedly leaping at her with silver daggers at hand. She ducked, knocking the weapons by the hilts with a katana from the two she’d rolled under-- a girl with long, black and white pigtails and a girl with short, brown locks.

“What’re you idiots doing, trying to kill me?” she grumbled, turning to find the five hunters staring at her with wide eyes. Maya and Pareo, the two that she disarmed, were crouched, reaching for their weapons, but had since turned to stare at her in shock. Meanwhile, Chu2, Rui, and Chisato were hovering over them. In the dying light of the sun, now casting its final, golden rays upon their figures, Masuki thought they looked surprised to see her.

“S-Sensei?!” Maya suddenly rushed towards her, grabbing her in a hug. Masuki nearly jumped; she had nearly forgotten how tight the girl’s choke-hold embraces could be. “You’re alive… We all thought you’d died out here..!”

“Hmph. I wouldn’t just die like that, y’know?” Masuki gruffly replied, trying not to be suffocated by her apprentice. “I’m alright. You’ve nothing to worry about.”

“Masuki-sama, it’s good to see you alive and all, truly, but…” Chisato suddenly spoke up, ever the voice of logic, of reason, out of the hunters. “What have you been doing all this time..? It’s been a month… and you still haven’t killed the vampire?”

“Umm, yeah. I can’t seem to find their lair,” Masuki quickly amended. “I just happened to find this abandoned church here, so I was going to stay here.”

“But… Pareo here caught traces of you and your scent all over this area,” Rui cut in. “As if you’d been wandering around a very small area for at least two weeks.” She glanced over at the trainee, Tsukichi’s own Loyal Bloodhound Pareko, who was watching Masuki with a curious, wide-eyed expression. Her midnight irises reflected the violet light of the infinite sky, almost eerily glittering with intelligent stars, all too sharp and blinding. _Darn her and her insanely good nose._

“Ah… that’s right.” Maya pulled back and gave her mentor a once-over. “Why are you wearing a suit? You set out in traveling clothes.”

Masuki gulped. She really hadn’t thought this through in her earlier panic. “I... actually crossed through the entire forest and found myself at Hibiki village. That’s where I got it.”

Pareo suddenly got up, stepped forward, and sidled up over Maya, tugging at Masuki’s suit. “Why wear a suit when traveling through the woods..?” she murmured. “And why can Pareo smell… someone else’s scent on this?”

“I just got this-! I was at the village yesterday.”

“Why’d it take you a whole month to get through the forest? Searching so long and not finding the vampire… maybe they aren’t from the woods after all,” Chu2 suddenly spoke up. “Pareo, come back. We might as well stay with Masuki at this church and leave tomorrow.”

“...” Pareo didn’t listen; she was still intently sniffing Masuki.

“Pareo? What’re you doing?” Chu2 asked once more.

“Pareo smells vampire on this.”

“Eh?” Dread began to boil in Masuki’s stomach, sent adrenaline flooding through her veins. How was she to back out of this one, now? “What… do you mean?”

“All of the bitten villagers in the last month… When Pareo inspected their wounds, the bites bore the vampire’s scent, as expected, since Pareo and company subjugated all of the cases within hours of their discovery. Night watch.” A pause; she drew back and stared into Masuki’s eyes with shock dawning upon her expression. “That same, sweet, bloody scent is all over Massu-san. What have you been doing, really?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of- of course you do! Pareo’s nose never lies!” Chu2 declared. “You’re lying to us, aren’t you? You’ve met the vampire, you definitely did!”

“And you’re uninjured.” Masuki realized, just then, that Maya had been squeezing her limbs, poking her all over to see if she’d wince, as one would if their wounds were prodded. “You let the vampire… go? Peacefully? Or did you kill it in one blow?”

“I didn’t, I don’t have the prize,” the blonde replied.

“So what exactly happened?” Chisato prompted. “How did you get so persistently close to the vampire, yet failed to kill it?”

A beat of silence. Masuki couldn’t reply.

Well, she was saved from the coming onslaught, perhaps fortunately (well, unfortunately) by a rustle in the trees.

“Go, go, go, Pareo!” Chu2’s call was meaningless; Pareo had bolted for the leaves before her self-proclaimed master had even finished saying the first word. Within moments, there was a cry of delight from the trainee, followed by a sharp scream from Rei.

Masuki immediately ran to see what had happened, but Pareo was faster. She was already emerging from the brush with a silver sword in one hand and dragging Rei along the grass with the other.

Masuki just barely bit her tongue in time to stop herself from screaming Rei’s name, stop herself from running to her in a panic. The other hunters around her were murmuring, like a flock of birds chirping around a carcass and wondering how it died.

“Found the vampire!” Pareo said, grinning. She was holding Rei by her blouse collar; Rei herself was clutching her shoulder, which was soaking blood through the sleeve. Her face was contorted in a pained grimace, and Masuki felt like she was going to be sick, watching the other hunters standing around her as if she were some injured animal.

“How… are you so sure of that?” Chisato asked. “So suddenly, she just appears…”

“She has the same scent as the Tsukichi vampire,” Pareo explained, turning to set the tip of her blade right in front of Rei, thus preventing her from moving. “So she’s got to be it.”

“She doesn’t look like a vampire, though…” Maya murmured. “She’s so… calm.”

“Y-Yeah, come on, how can you be sure off of just scent alone?” Masuki was trying to keep her voice steady, but even if she was failing miserably at it, the others didn’t seem to take notice. The vampire’s gaze dared to flicker up and meet her wide eyes for one swift heartbeat before falling back down. Yet, in that singular moment, there was one striking emotion palpable in her stare.

_Fear._

For once, Rei was relying on Masuki to get her out of this, to keep her safe; there was no way Masuki could let her down.

Meanwhile, Pareo shook her head. “Pareo is sure, but, let Pareo show you all-” she knelt down, her blade now held under Rei’s chin, frighteningly close to her throat. With one slender finger, she prodded at her mouth. “Bare your fangs.”

Rei obviously didn’t respond, instead stiffly staring straight ahead, at Masuki’s shoes, with dull eyes and blown pupils, illuminated in the dying afterglow. “You heard her, you creature! Bare your fangs, like the dog that you are!” Chu2 suddenly called out.

 _Please don’t respond,_ Masuki thought, wincing at Chu2’s harsh words. _Please..._ She had to think fast, now, figure out a plan. How could she possibly unravel this situation, tear it down in a way that would actually help..?

She wasn’t fast enough, though.

It all happened very suddenly.

One second Pareo was poking at Rei’s cheek, and the next a pair of fangs were fastened around her wrist.

 _“Kyaaahhhhh!”_ The hunter screamed, slamming the blunt side of her blade down, _hard,_ against Rei’s shoulder, forcing her one usable hand --the other must’ve been paralyzed due to the silver wound on that arm-- off of her. Chu2 rushed forward, slashing the bloody, blossoming bite wound on Pareo’s skin to nullify it, and tried to attack Rei again only to be thrown back in a panic as Rei lunged at her.

Masuki didn’t know what to do. She’d never seen Rei like this before, never seen her act so violently.

Her navy blue eyes had sharpened to shards of flint, wide and filled with _fear,_ with manic, all-consuming fear. _She’s scared out of her mind,_ Masuki realized, forcing her feet forward, trying to reach the rampaging girl before the other hunters got to her and tore her apart by the seams. _She’s cornered-- when’s the last time she’s had to fight, anyway-?_

Too slow, too fast, too little, too much; what was it that happened next?

Masuki wasn’t sure, but suddenly Chisato and Rui and Maya and Chu2 and even Pareo were all swarming Rei, one after the other, silver blades and swords and daggers and lances slashing at the vampire’s lean body, and the _blood,_ there was blood everywhere, and Masuki didn’t know if it was Rei’s or the hunters’ or maybe her own, because she was there too, in the middle of the fray, grabbing Rei around the ribs with her bare hands and trying to drag her out only to be snapped at too. _A senseless creature has no friends._

“Rei!” she finally yelled out, and at once the girl in question seemed to falter, to stop moving. For a moment, Masuki could see _her_ in those eyes, the soft, maskedly emotional girl she’d met in the woods, the one who occupied the stars and moon and sky and sun in Masuki’s heart.

And the stars were flickering, dimming, as the other hunters took that opportunity by the reigns and _bolted_ before Masuki knew what to do, before Rei had even taken her eyes off of her; they slashed at her limbs and and paralyzed her in seconds, her body suddenly crumpling to the damp, crimson grass at Masuki’s feet.

“You’ve really lost your touch, Masuki-sama,” Chisato said, standing over Rei’s body. Masuki’s cry had apparently gone unnoticed in the fray just seconds prior. “I thought you’d have gotten her head in your hands before we’d even laid a finger on her.”

“...” She didn’t know what to say to that.

“Well, go on!” Chu2 prompted. “Kill the vampire! That was _your_ task, right?! After we do all your dirty work, if you can’t do even th- EH?!”

And on that note Masuki was gone, and so was Rei, the latter in her arms as she ran as fast as she knew how through the brush, into the trees, ignoring the twigs that snapped under her feet, ignoring the thorns tearing at her face, ignoring the tears stinging in her eyes; none of it mattered, because all that did matter was getting Rei out of there and getting herself the fuck out as well.

“Masu...ki..?” Rei’s voice was weak; it seemed the only place they hadn’t cut was her face. Her eyes were half-lidded, and from what Masuki could tell in her peripheral (most of her attention was focused on panic as the sounds of the other hunters giving chase drew closer), the brunette was barely staying conscious. The blood loss from her wounds, which were now staining Masuki’s suit red, and the paralysis from the silver were both getting to her. _She never was physically strong._ “Why..? I thought... you were going to go... back...”

“What- do you- mean?” Masuki choked out between breaths as she tried to run. She wasn’t even sure where she was going at this point; where even was she? Every tree looked the same to her, to her dazed mind and blurring vision.

“The hunters... came to get you... And I thought, maybe... you were going home.” Rei’s voice was pained; strained, as if she were on the brink of tears. “Maybe... you were going to leave me.”

“How- could I- do that?” Masuki huffed, sparing a glance down. There were, in fact, tears, like diamonds, like galaxies, glittering in those perfect blue eyes. “I told you... I wouldn’t leave... didn’t I?”

“...” Rei seemed too tired to speak any more, and Masuki concentrated on running, but even that wasn’t enough anymore, because there was a sudden, sharp pain blossoming near her foot, and she cried out and stumbled, falling to the ground.

Rei crumpled underneath her, fortunately shielded by her body, and the hunter (ex-hunter? Traitor-hunter?) glanced back to find an arrow embedded in her ankle, shiny and reflective even in the dark. “Goddammit..!”

Figuring the wound was too small to actually bleed all that much, Masuki leaned back, cleanly tore out the arrow, and threw it aside. She couldn’t run anymore, whether because of the ache in her chest or the pulsing agony coming from the wound; it was too late. Picking up Rei into a more comfortable position, she knelt and tucked her head to her chest, hiding her now small and broken body with her own. Masuki ran her fingers through her long, silky hair; even when streaked with blood, it was surprisingly soft.

Closing her eyes and lowering her lips to Rei’s head, Masuki was dimly aware of the sound of the other hunters crashing into the glade after her. Someone’s footsteps had halted right behind her.

“I never would have imagined it.” Maya’s voice was soft; sad, almost, but mostly filled with repressed, seething anger. “Masuki-san ran off... and befriended the vampire.”

“Should’ve expected it,” Rui added from somewhere more distant.

“Wh-What does Rui-san mean... expected it?” Pareo asked. “Massu-san... was always so swift in action, so kind outside of it... Why would she run off and make friends with her enemy..?”

“Maybe she just got tired of killing, or something,” Chu2 cut in. “Got sick of us and wanted to run away, maybe. Decided she wanted to live in the woods. Fell in love. Anything.”

There was a pause, and the sound of Chu2’s footsteps growing ever nearer. Masuki’s arms tightened around Rei, tucked her closer to her chest. “But we came to do one thing, and we intend to finish it, with or without her.”

Masuki didn’t know what she was going to do, nor when she was going to do it, but all she knew was that Rei was about to be torn from her, and she wanted to hold onto her for as long as she could until then. How tragic was this, to have the first person you really _clicked_ with beheaded right in front of your eyes? How many of the things she wanted to tell her could she get out before the death penalty fell upon them? She didn’t know, she couldn’t know, _she didn’t want to know._

“I’m sorry,” is all she could whisper, her hands clutching Rei’s silky hair. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

“...Masu...ki...” And her weak, tiny voice, ever so soft, so fragile, so delicately beautiful as a flower, was shaping her name, in the perfectly endearing way she always did. “I...

_“I love you...”_

But before Masuki could process that, before she could process anything that was going on, really, the sound of a fox’s bark split through the twilight sky.

_Huh..?_

Masuki looked up, and at once found a red and white fox, a yokai, crouching behind her, placing her body between Chu2 and the two of them. Her fur was standing on end, making her look extraordinarily poofy, and her two tails were thrashing in agitation. “Arisa-san...”

 _“Wan!”_ She glanced back, shooting Masuki a squinted look, as if asking her how she’d created so much trouble.

“A yokai...” Chisato murmured. Then Masuki heard the sound of a katana being drawn out of a sheath. “Come on, let’s get this thing out of the way, and then we’ll-”

Before she could finish, Arisa leaped up, landing on Chu2’s shoulder and clawing her way up to her back. Chu2, being tiny, seemed to be having trouble staying on her feet as she tried to jab at the yokai with a dagger. “Aughhh! What’s with this stupid fox?!”

 _“Wan!”_ With the others now scrambling to try and get Arisa off of Chu2, Masuki hobbled up onto her knees, despite the painful ache in her foot and the dampness of blood soaking into her shoe, and began shuffling forward with Rei in her arms. She didn’t know how long it took for such widespread silver paralysis to wear off on a vampire, but in the meantime, she had to do her best to move, while Arisas was giving them a chance to.

“Hey! You’re not going anywhere!” Maya’s voice rang out, and Masuki looked over her shoulder to see her running towards her. Before she could make it, though, a blue blur suddenly flashed across her vision, sending the trainee tumbling to the ground. _“KYAAHHH!”_

It was Tae, Masuki could see now, with her long, dark hair and cerulean dress. Following her was Tsugumi, seemingly floating along, sad eyes slipping from one side of the glade to the other. “Oh no...”

“Eh?! A yurei?!” Pareo cried out, pausing in her attempts to wrangle Arisa. Tsugumi’s head turned as she fixed her eyes upon her. “Hm? What’s she-”

“...” Silently, there was a sharp _crack_ from above, and a rather large tree branch suddenly fell into the clearing, hitting Chisato over the head on its way down. “Rei-san... You tried to kill Rei-san...” The ghost’s voice was nearly inaudible over the clamour of the panicked hunters as Chisato went down and Arisa clambered onto Rui in the chaos. “Masuki-san... Please save Rei-san..!”

The sound of a second piece of wood snapping rang crisply through the air as Tsugumi continued to summon disaster upon disaster into the area. Masuki staggered to her feet, Rei now limply lying in her arms, head rocking against her shoulder. _They’re... trying to buy us time... I can’t waste their efforts..!_

Someone tried to chase after her again (Chu2, maybe), only to be apparently halted by Tsugumi, who let out a pitiful scream as she audibly hit the ground with her victim. _Move... I have to move, now..!_

Staggering into the brush, Masuki continued to trip her way through the undergrowth. She was cold; Rei’s blood was starting to dry against her, cool and sickeningly damp. Was she alive? Masuki wasn’t sure, but in the moment, panicking over that wouldn’t do her any good. She had to get away, far enough that the hunters wouldn’t be able to catch up after getting beaten up by Tae and company. _Those three... they really do care about Rei, huh?_

After a while, Masuki found herself in an unfamiliar little hollow by a large oak tree. Settling down on the moss between the massive roots, she set Rei’s body down on the ferns. Thankfully, she roused as her figure slumped against the wood, a strained groan escaping her lips.

“Huh? Rei? Rei, are you awake?” Masuki placed a gentle hand against her cheek as she shifted, markings faintly flickering to life like fireflies as her eyes half-opened. “Ah, don’t light yourself up, you’ll be a walking target, plus you’ll drain yourself out… Do you think you can move?”

“I’m... cold...” Rei whimpered as shadow fell upon the hollow. “It hurts...”

Masuki couldn’t actually see any of her wounds in the dark, especially not without the light source of her glowing markings. She’d have to make do and just hastily wrap her up until the morning, at which point she could clean them up by the river. And then...

 _Less thinking, more doing, Masuki._ Removing her suit jacket, Masuki began to tear it up into strips. “What really happened..?” Rei suddenly asked, her voice still small and weak. “It all went by... so fast.”

“Tae-san, Arisa-san, and Tsugu-chan came and held them off. I ran away with you.” In the dark, she tried her best to feel up Rei's body, finding her corset and laying her fingers over it. “Where does it hurt the most?”

“My legs, both of them... Inside of the knee.”

Masuki felt down to the torn cloth of her pants leg and parted it the best she could to tightly wrap the strip she’d ripped out of her jacket around the wound. Rei winced underneath her touch; she tried her best not to touch the injury itself.

“What’re we going to do now..?” the vampire asked weakly. “They know where the church is… so where should we go..? We’ve put Arisa-san and Hana-chan and Tsugumi in danger, too…”

“No point feeling bad about them, now. They chose to jump in.” Masuki sighed; Rei had a good point, though. Where could they possibly go? Masuki was as good as exiled from Tsukichi now, and Rei and her company couldn’t possibly stay in the woods. “We’ll figure it out once you’ve recovered, alright?” Her voice softened as she firmly but gently tightened a second cloth around Rei’s other knee. “And where else does it hurt?”

“Everywhere.” A pause. “But especially my right shoulder.”

Masuki finished bandaging up Rei’s beaten body quite a while later. The vampire had fallen quiet as she’d worked; Masuki thought she’d fallen asleep, until she finished the final bandage around her hand.

“Thank you… Masuki,” Rei murmured. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You wouldn’t be hurt if it hadn’t been for me, either,” Masuki muttered, but she settled down against the tree, too, behind Rei so that she could semi-hold her. The night was silent, dark as ink; perhaps they were too far away to hear the tussle, or Tae and her friends had already put down the hunters. A brief quiet fell over the two before she spoke again.

“I was just thinking… you know, what you said, earlier, when they had us cornered and we thought you were about to die.”

“Mmh.”

“You- You told me you loved me.” The words, which she’d nearly forgotten in the frenzy earlier, were now the only thing she could think about in this respite. Masuki looked down, trying to find Rei in the darkness; her eyes were reflecting the moonlight filtering through the gap in the trees ahead. She was staring up at her, too. “Did you mean it?”

“Yes… Of course I did.” Rei still seemed weak and sleepy, but her words were unquestionably certain. “I… really do love you, Masuki. I love you more than life itself.”

“...”

“Masuki?”

“...” The girl in question was currently trying to process what she was saying, her face flushed a rather bright shade of crimson. If she had markings like Rei, they’d be glowing a brilliant red right now, to say the least. _Rei… loves me..? No, this… can’t be right. Why would Rei like someone like me? Why would she stoop to the level of a human, of all creatures..? Why..?_ “You… must be delirious,” she finally said. “Go to sleep, Rei.”

“I’m not delirious.” And Rei was hauling herself up, flipping herself over so that she was sitting and facing Masuki despite her numerous wounds; before the blonde could protest, Rei’s face was suddenly very, very close to hers, subtly glowing, cerulean eyes boring into her own.

“E-Eh..?”

“I love you, Masuki.” Rei seemed to have lost all of her emotional klutziness in that moment; her words were clear, gentle, filled with pure admiration and adoration. “You’re… the first friend I’ve made in years. You’re important to me. I don’t care if you don’t like me, I don’t care if you don’t even want to stay-- I’d still love you, forever and always, because you’re… you.”

“Rei…” Masuki wished she could see Rei, wished she could see her beautiful face and beautiful eyes and undoubtedly cute expression. But for now, her voice had to do, her voice and the sweet, delicate words she was murmuring. “I love you too.”

And before Rei could reply to that any more than widen her eyes, Masuki’s lips were on hers, and she thought she was melting.

...

_...she tastes... sweet._

Face flushed, rosebuds blossoming and dancing, ablaze, through her skin, Masuki felt Rei accept her, greedily, almost, tongue against hers almost instantly as she tilted her head. She whimpered against the vampire’s touch; Masuki felt her own tongue brush against the pointed tips of her fangs, but she was barely fazed. “God, even your kiss is beautiful,” she gasped, her voice husky as Rei finally pulled back, leaning her head against Masuki’s. “You’re my everything, you know that, Rei? You’re my world,” she whispered.

“And you’re my stars, my moon.” Then she was leaning in again, half-lidded eyes shutting in ecstasy, and Masuki wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rei was growing gentler with her, though, her energy seeming to subside; her arms were sloppily and limply thrown around her sides, and Masuki found herself half-holding her up, arms looped up around her back. _She_ does _smell like flowers, like rose and lilacs._

“More...” she sighed against her lips, and Masuki couldn’t say no, didn’t want to say no, finding herself drawn back in like a moth to a hazy flame. She was soft, tantalizingly soft and _precious_ and _perfect,_ and Masuki wanted to hold her, to love her forever. “Masuki...” And the way she was saying her name, half out of breath but dripping with affection, like honey, like candy, struck an arrow through her heart, made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And finally, Rei pulled back for good, and Masuki found herself missing her warmth already. “Rest, now,” she said, though. “When the sun goes back up and the hunters are long gone, I’ll take you to the river and reconvene with Tae-san and the others.”

“Mmh... too bright...” Rei seemed all tuckered out, too, leaning into Masuki’s chest and allowing her limbs to splay out again into a more comfortable position for her wounds. “Don’t go... G’night...”

“I wouldn’t leave you for anything,” she replied, her voice softening as she wrapped her arms around her. “Sleep well, Rei.”

With the vampire slumped against her shoulder, instantly lost in a realm of sugar dreams, Masuki decided that all the pain, all the turmoil, it was all worth it for this one girl.

It was worth it if she could keep her by her side for the rest of time, for the rest of her mortal being and the rest of her eternal afterlife, because as long as Rei was here, Masuki was _alive,_ and Masuki was free. The future, nor the past mattered no more; if they could be together, then it was sure that the days to come would be alright.

They’d be alright.

_I love you, Rei._

  
  
  


_『 Love’s trap can hold even spirits, flip the world over on its head, freeze or push time and space itself. And yet, you’ve fallen this far, too?_

If this is a trap, then I never want to let go.

_...you really do love her, don’t you..?_

Yes.

_Then I bid you a blood-blessed life. Farewell, now, before it’s too late._

_Be happy with her, as I know you will. 』_


End file.
